Trader Joe’s has created an enthusiastic clientele over the years with its beach-themed atmosphere and inexpensive, organic products. Two fans took their love for the California-based chain to the next level by creating a publishing company inspired by the store.

What started as a side business for California mothers Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati has evolved into a thriving, full-time career. Since 2007, their two-woman publishing house, Brown Bag Publishers, has produced six cookbooks dedicated to healthy eating and the Trader Joe’s fan base.

The company’s most recent installment, “Cooking With Trader Joe’s: Lighten Up,” is a guide that uses Trader Joe’s products to incorporate carbohydrates into a healthy diet. With vegetarian, gluten-free and lunchtime Trader Joe’s-inspired books scheduled for release this fall, it is clear the women have discovered a unique niche in publishing.

Gunn and Miniati met while attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during their undergraduate years. Both women relocated to California — Gunn to Encinitas and Miniati to San Francisco — where they worked as engineers. Cooking, however, had always been a part of their lives.

“My parents almost never ate out, so my mom cooked three meals a day and made everything from scratch,” Miniati said. “I spent a lot of time in the kitchen just learning from her.”

As adults balancing careers and motherhood, the two women found that attempts to cook the way they learned growing up proved to be difficult.

Gunn said her love for Trader Joe’s developed because of the store’s high-quality, fresh products that significantly cut down her cooking time.

“When you go to a restaurant, your food comes out in 20 minutes, but you don’t see all the preparation that goes on each morning beforehand,” Gunn said. “We started thinking of Trader Joe’s as our prep crew. You can buy chopped carrots or a great pre-made curry sauce.”

Although the stores offer a variety of products from risotto to peanut flour, Gunn said customers don’t always know how to use certain ingredients in meals. With this realization, Gunn approached Miniati with the idea of creating a cookbook using Trader Joe’s items.

Nine months later, having established Brown Bag Publishers, Gunn and Miniati released the “Cooking With All Things Trader Joe’s Cookbook” in 2007.

The book features colorful images, nutritional information and gourmet-style recipes such as chicken-filled crepes drizzled with spinach artichoke dip and portobello mushrooms stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. Each meal averages approximately 30 to 40 minutes of cooking time.

According to Miniati, the two women opted to publish the book on their own in order to save time and to ensure they had a finished product that they loved.

“The traditional publishing route would have taken forever,” Miniati said. “With just the two of us, decisions could be made a lot faster. ... We could also control all of the content, from the writing style to the photography.”

Gunn attributes the quick turnaround on their first book to the “problem solving” mentality she and Miniati acquired as engineers. They endured many late nights learning the ins and outs of publishing in addition to cooking and photographing each recipe.

The women also used their savings to fund the first publication, and enlisted the help of nutritionists, graphic designers and editors throughout the process.

After printing, the first 10,000 copies were shipped out of Gunn’s garage “one by one.”

While Miniati admitted that creating their first few books took a lot of work, it was not as difficult as most people imagine, she said.

“A lot of people ask us how hard it was to do the book in such a short time,” Miniati said. “It wasn’t bad because a lot of the recipes were things we had been cooking for years. It was just a matter of writing the recipes down and finding a way to publicize.”

Though the first three cookbooks were written by Gunn and Miniati themselves, they have since stepped into a more traditional role as publishers, assisting other writers with the company’s most recent publications. Other titles include the “Cooking With Trader Joe’s: Pack a Lunch” cookbook by food author Celine Cossou-Bordes and a vegan cookbook, “Cooking With Trader Joe’s: Skinny Dish!” by nutritionist Jennifer K. Reilly.

With the success of their company and their website www.cooktj.com, Gunn and Miniati have no plans to slow down.

“I think everyone faces the problem where they want convenient ways to cook, eat well and eat something that tastes great at the same time,” Gunn said. “We have a community of fans that really appreciate what we do; we’re just going to keep finding ways to make our readers happy.”

candice.norwood@utsandiego.com • (619) 293-1882

Peanutty Sesame Noodles

Makes 6 servings

8 ounces (half a package) spaghetti noodles

Easy Peanutty Sauce (recipe below)

1 cup shredded carrots, available pre-shredded at Trader Joe’s

1 cup sliced cucumber

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, crushed (optional)

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water. Drain and place in large bowl.